CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Bank of America will pay about $21,500 to resolve a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit accusing it of failing to pay hourly employees for time spent booting up and shutting down computers before and after their shifts, after a federal judge in North Carolina approved the deal and ordered the case dismissed pending payment, Law360 reported.
The settlement, approved April 17 by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell, covers payments to the two plaintiffs as well as attorney fees and costs.
The case, Martin v. Bank of America Corp., was filed in October by former business analyst Tava Martin in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Martin alleged Bank of America required business analysts to complete off-the-clock startup and shutdown tasks—including logging into secure systems and getting workstations “phone ready”—before they could begin paid work, with the complaint later joined by opt-in plaintiff Joseph Casey. Public docket records show the case was filed Oct. 23, 2025, and that the court approved the parties’ unopposed motion for settlement last week.
Law360 reported the settlement will pay Martin $4,000 and Casey $8,500, with the balance going toward plaintiffs’ attorney fees and litigation costs, bringing the total package to approximately $21,500. The same outlet earlier reported the parties notified the court in February that they had reached a resolution, setting up the later approval order.
The lawsuit had alleged employees sometimes spent significant unpaid time starting up computers, logging into VPNs and other systems, and shutting down equipment—an issue that has drawn broader attention in wage-and-hour litigation as more jobs rely on secured digital workstations. News reports on the original complaint said Martin claimed the startup process could take 15 to 30 minutes on some days, especially when technical issues arose.